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Saturday, March 12, 2011

GöDZ PööDLZ

It's another duo this week. Rüss Rögers and Rhöd Dürre (the umlauts are optional, so don't bust a vein trying to find them on the keyboard!). Russ competed in Song Fu 3 as "Rusty's Rocking Jamboree". Shortly thereafter he paired with Rhod and they burst into Song Fu 4 as Gödz Pöödlz. And what an entrance! In successive rounds they delivered Bad Penny, Gödz Pöödlz on Parade, and the iconic Bomb Squad Girl. In particular, Gödz Pöödlz on Parade estabished a certain... attitude... that defines the Pöödlz.

I first "discovered" Song Fu in the following competition, where the Pöödlz offered up such polished gems as Captain Dane Frostline, 3455316008, and A Gift from Gödz Pöödlz. I have to admit to some stupidity on my part when it came to 3455316008, their answer to the challenge "Write a song about a number". It wasn't until after the voting that I realized that every word in their apparently numberless "song about a number" was written upside-down on a calculator! In other words, the entire song was a number, the title of which resembles "She Boogies"!

A Gift from Gödz Pöödlz takes the self-promotional attitude of Gödz Pöödlz on Parade to a new height:

A fine bit of hubris from a band that had at the time a grand total of two competitions and six songs under their belt! But it's all in good fun... these guys are all about pleasing the crowd. That's something they've continued to do through successive competitions, both Song Fu and SpinTunes. They've a loyal (you might say, rabid) fan following with whom they communicate on Twitter and Facebook.

At this point I'll mention that they've set a goal to appear on the Doctor Demento show, as well they should. So click through the Facebook link above and find out how you can help make that happen!

I have no segue for this next piece... it's just that my wife wanted to make absolutely certain that you heard it, because she's a Pöödlz fan, too, and this is a really nice piece of music:

When I announced that the purpose of the Periodic Table of Geek Musicians was to benefit Rite Care Centers for Childhood Language Disorders, the Pöödlz were easily the most enthusiastic volunteers. I soon found out why, but I'll let Rhod Durre tell that story himself:

"When one of my daughters was diagnosed with speech apraxia when she was 3 years old, we exhausted all apparent options without much noticeable improvement. Despite receiving intensive speech therapy at home and through our health insurance, she was still unintelligible to even immediate family members. We learned about Rite Care through our school district speech therapy and were placed on the waiting list. When an opening was finally available, the local Rite Care evaluated and accepted two of our children for therapy twice a week. The improvement in my daughters' speech was dramatic and was immediately noticeable! The therapists engaged our children and made speech therapy fun for them in a way no previous teacher had. Not only did their speech improve immensely, but they really bonded with the therapists and started to actually look forward to speech lessons. As their therapy progressed, my children gained self-confidence because they were finally able to communicate with others. Three of my children have now received therapy through Rite Care and their transformation has been incredible! Especially in the case of the child who was diagnosed with apraxia, I credit Rite Care for helping her to overcome this very serious disorder. If not for the early intervention she received, I don't know that she would be understandable to this day. Because of Rite Care, however, she is now doing extremely well both scholastically and socially. Thank you, Rite Care, for everything you have done for my family!

-Rhod Durre
St. Michael, MN"

Normally at this point you'd get a disclaimer saying that so-and-so's results are atypical. While Rite Care cannot do the impossible, what is certain is that your donations go to pay for the very best, most dedicated therapists possible. The monies we collect here go directly to therapy. They don't even pay for the administrative costs of this web domain or the Cafepress store. Rite Care services are offered without cost to the families, but that doesn't mean they're free. Rite Care receives exactly zero government funding... everything happens as a result of fundraising projects like this one. So please support a great band that supports a great cause and buy some of their merchandise. When it comes to your home and you open the box, know that you're part of something wonderful. If you can't afford the merchandise, no problem... we've got a Paypal donation link for smaller amounts, and if nothing else you can click through a few ads. Every little bit helps!

In keeping with their enthusiasm for the project, and their flair for self-promotion (and keep in mind that they're letting me do this to benefit other people!), Gödz Pöödlz have THIRTEEN products for sale, including some really SPECIAL items! I'm going to list some of them, but give you the link to the PeriodicGeek shop for the whole list. Partly because I knew this was coming, I've partitioned the PeriodicGeek shop by band. It's now a lot easier to find the particular stuff you're looking for.

I'm going to start with the mug, because I like mugs! I like them so much that I'm running out of room in my cabinets. I like them so much I may have to take up drinking coffee! This is a really fun design featuring Len Peralta's "Monster by Mail" image of the Pöödlz, and a reference to a possibly-recognizable jingle.

What's not immediately apparent in these photos is the notice on the cups: "No PööDLZ were harmed in the making of this merchandise." Animal lovers take note.

Next up is something special. In honor of Bomb Squad Girl, we have this unique clock with Bomb Squad Girl herself, as envisioned by Your's Truly. Here she is in fighting trim, armed with a pair of wire cutters to defuse an explosive situation! Meanwhile the seconds tick down from 60 to zero!

This was a really fun thing to design. Click here for a close-up of BSG's face.

We also have THREE apparel designs. The first two are BSG designs. Your Bomb Squad Girl will be fearless, fit, and fabulous in the BSG logo. This is available as a Jr. Ringer Tee (shown. available in pink/salmon, yellow/gold, and mint/avocado) and as a white ladies T-shirt. Round out the look with a BSG military cap in black, olive, or tan. Bomb Squad Girl wears one, and it looks GREAT. Men's and Women's T-shirts are available with the same BSG image that appears on the clock!

And of course we have a shirt featuring the wonderful Len Peralta image in glorious high res!

While we're on the subject, I'm really loving this last product, too. A Gift From Gödz Pöödlz is an oval porcelain ornament featuring the Pöödlz rocking out. This item can do double-duty as a gift tag... it's a gift on a gift! Now how cool is that?!

Thanks, Russ and Rhod, for allowing me to go crazy, and for supporting Rite Care. And thanks to everybody for your support. While you're in the mood, visit Gödz Pöödlz on Facebook and Bandcamp. At just a buck a song, you really can't go wrong... GodzPoodlz dot Bandcamp dot Com!

Here's something I didn't mention in the post above, but needs to be said. When I said the Poodlz were enthusiastic, I don't mean in a passive "cheer on the home team" kind of way. Russ set up our Facebook page and handed me the Admin keys, and sent me a super-hi-res scan of the Poodlz graphic for the merchandise. You've already read Rhod's testimonial. They promote this site at every opportunity, as when Russ gave us a shout-out on his column at Michael Davis World, here: http://tinyurl.com/4uv9rjk. They didn't have to do this stuff... they do it because they're not just good musicians, they're good people.

I was very enthusiastic about The Periodic Table of Geek Musicians from the beginning, even before Godz Poodlz became officially involved. There's a sense of playfulness and good humor about the whole thing. And the fact that it benefits such a worthy cause is just wonderful.

I remember the day that I told Rhod Durre that the PToGM was a benefit for Rite Care. He asked, "How did that charity get picked?" I didn't know. And then he told me that several of his daughters have gotten great speech therapy at no cost from Rite Care. It's those kinds of coincidences, that kind of synergy, that reaffirms my faith in a Joyful Divine Presence within our lives. And Rite Care has certainly done miraculous things with Rhod's daughters.

When Godz Poodlz signed up for the PToGM, I wanted to use the Monster-by-Mail drawing by Len Peralta, that became our logo. http://monsterbymail.com/ Len has does amazing illustration and album cover design work for classic Geek Musicians like Jonathan Coulton, Paul & Storm, Molly Lewis and Mike Lombardo. He's worked with Ken Plume (the founder of Song Fu) and the gang from MST3K (both RiffTrax and Cinematic Titanic). I think last year's "Geek A Week" project propelled Len from a fun artist into an "Important" artist. Anyway, Godz Poodlz got our Monster-by-Mail at a stunningly reasonable price. But I wasn't going to use it for this project (essentially resell it) without Len's permission. My point is, Len Peralta was very generous in saying, "Go for it!" and giving his permission. ROCK ON, LEN!

But beyond Len's drawing, Rhod and I wanted to give Dave Leigh carte blanche to design whatever products or other designs he wanted for Godz Poodlz. I was already impressed with what was done with all the other PToGM artists. But I'm blown away with the attention, care, creativity and heart Dave has poured into these Godz Poodlz designs and products! Especially the "Bomb Squad Girl" clock! It's wonderful, hilarious. My birthday is this week and I'm getting one!

I'm very proud that Godz Poodlz are part of the Periodic Table of Geek Musicians. It's flattering and gratifying that our songs could inspire such great work, and so many great products. I hope they are big sellers.

It's been part of Godz Poodlz mystique from the beginning that we maintain a sort of self-effacing bravado. We don't take ourselves too seriously, while at the same time we act like we're Top Dogz. It was there in the name, "GÖDZ PÖÖDDLZ!" Well, being part of the Periodic Table of Geek Musicians has made me feel like we're Top Dogz!

Godz Poodlz are on the Periodic Table of Geek Musicians, with lots of cool merchandise! And sales benefit Rite Care Speech Centers! To celebrate, this month, we are making our bandcamp album "Name Your Own Price!" http://godzpoodlz.bandcamp.com/ You can get it FREE! But, beyond that, if you PAY for the album this month (March 2011), we will donate all proceeds and an additional contribution to Rite Care!

I'm so excited about you guys, and for my own reasons REALLY stoked about this charity. Speech therapy has touched many lives, and I *personally* think it's an amazing cause as well so I was really excited that we were involved.

I also wanted to say that it's neat that y'all were right after us with a number of '73, with your birthday on as well. 1973 is the birthday year of one of the Duality members.

We love you Godz Poolz! And Dave you too as well for instigating this Neat Thing.